Community Foundations respond to oil spill and BP notices

July 30, 2010

Just as the New York Community Trust became the catalyst for creation of a September 11 Fund in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attack, the Baton Rouge Area Foundation (BRAF) is providing long-term assistance in the wake of the BP oil spill through the Gulf Coast Restoration and Protection Fund GCRPF).

BP itself is adding to the effort by establishing the Rig Work Assistance Fund, a $100 million charitable fund that will be administered through GCRPF, a supporting foundation of BRAF. The Fund set up by BP will provide support for unemployed rig workers who are taking an economic hit in the wake of the oil spill and subsequent federal moratorium on deepwater drilling.

Like all community foundations, BRAF provides for BP and all other donors a long history of addressing community needs and a mechanism to get grant dollars out to the people and organizations who need them. Following Hurricane Katrina, BRAF helped companies around the world distribute $8.5 million to their displaced workers.